2010/02/09
A WARNING of extremely high and uncomfortable humid conditions for today has been issued by the SA Weather Service for the northern interior of the Eastern Cape.
SA Weather Service weather forecaster Dipuo Tawana, said it would be partly cloudy over East London today and towards Port St Johns in the Transkei.
She added isolated thunders were forecast for the northern parts of the province in the afternoon.
The forecast comes after the Garden Route, already in the grip of the worst drought in more than a century, has been sweltering under a heatwave since Friday.
In George, the mercury climbed to 32°C yesterday and is set to peak at 37°C tomorrow . Temperatures will drop back to the high 20s for the rest of the week.
In Mossel Bay, the same extreme temperatures are being experienced.
In Plettenberg Bay it was 28°C yesterday but unlike George, the mercury will only climb to 27°C tomorrow , along with a 30 percent chance of rain.
In Oudtshoorn, where the heatwave was at its worst, residents sweltered as temperatures reached the 40°C mark yesterday .
With a slight respite today at 38°C, the temperatures will peak tomorrow at a massive 43°C.
A local doctor has advised people to drink at least six glasses of water a day and avoid caffeine while the heatwave continued.
He said if anyone became dehydrated, they should take a rehydration solution or make one from one litre of water mixed with eight teaspoons of sugar and a half a teaspoon of salt.
Symptoms of dehydration include excessive tiredness, headaches, lack of concentration, dizziness and fainting, with especially children under the the age of three years and elderly patients over 65 being vulnerable. - By LUYOLO MKENTANE and JANINE OELOFSE — The Herald, Avusa Group News
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